General Information

Robert Besen’s course Booking Your Own Concerts is offered by the Mannes School of Music Extension Division (one credit) each spring semester.

It is also possible to arrange a private version of this course for one or more artists (the ideal number of students is 3-6), as well as individual consutlations of selected topics from the course outline below as well as other aspects of career development.

Purpose

Most artists are not fortunate enough to have quality professional management. These artists (and even those who do have management) stand to benefit tremendously from a thorough knowledge of the process of booking a concert engagement. These skills will serve them well in:

• Getting the work that will launch and sustain their careers.
• Developing their careers to a level at which they will be attractive to management agencies.
• Giving them an understanding of how concert presenters and agents operate, and the savvy they need to work effectively with them throughout their careers.

It is a myth that concert presenters are willing to hire only artists with management; indeed, the majority are willing to work directly with artists, and many prefer it. This course provides an in-depth and practical look at the process of finding and communicating with concert presenters: learning how to make one’s work interesting to them and their audiences, negotiating fees, drawing up contracts, and seeing events through to a con-clusion so that the needs of artist and concert presenter alike are met. Interactive role-playing with concert presenters from around the country (using a speaker phone) will allow students to gain practical experience.

Course Outline

• Topic 1. Introduction & Getting Your Materials In Order: Basics of Press Kits & Recordings
  
• Topic 2. Who Am I?: Gaining a verbal understanding of your own work; understanding your work in the context of the industry
  
• Topic 3. Who’d Be Interested in Me?: The Research Process
  
• Topic 4. Tooting Your Own Horn (Part I): Getting a presenter’s attention
  
• Topic 5. Tooting Your Own Horn (Part II): Keeping a presenter’s attention
  
• Topic 6. Tooting Your Own Horn (Part III): The follow-up process
  
• Topic 7. Tooting Your Own Horn (Review) & Getting Someone Else toToot Your Horn: Finding & Training a Personal Representative
  
• Topic 8. What Am I Worth? (Part I): The Art of Negotiation
  
• Topic 9. What Am I Worth? (Part II): The Art of Negotiation (continued)
  
• Topic 10. At Your Service (Part I): How to Read & Write Contracts
  
• Topic 11. At Your Service (Part II): Logistics: From the Contract to the Concert (And After)
  
• Topic 12. Final Exam: Turning in of research lists and oral exam